Yep, it's a baseball open thread, and if this week in college football isn't doing much for you, have at it. Personally, I wish TBS nothing but awful things -- these announcing crews have been less than stellar, and I wish Vin Scully could at least call a Dodger game or two.

I have liked TBS' coverage so far. The studio is better with Eckersley and Granderson. Brian Anderson has been solid on the Phils/Brewers, and John Smoltz certainly has a long career in TV ahead of him should he choose to follow that path. I agree with Jon in that Orsillo and Reynolds have been very good. Overall, TBS has made improvements from year 1 to year 2.

i think that the TBS guys do pretty good considering that its national tv. most guys arre used to just doing one team who they know everything about then having to do another team in the player that all they know is from cramming in media guides for a week. these guys have done a prettty good job.

and looks like the brew crew might aviod the sweep. even though gagne is in the game.

Do the TBS announcers even know how many outs are in an inning? Twice already with two outs, Darling said in the 1st that Harden "should be looking for a double play," and Stockton in the 3rd said Manny "wisely moved up on the fly ball to stay out of the double play" before actually correcting himself.

The TBS announcers have been okay, I guess. The worst has been Dick Stockton, who has been clueless most of the time. That's not really anything new.

However, has anyone noticed the fake "crowd roar" (or whatever it is) that TBS has added during the Cubs/Dodgers series? I noticed it in the games at Wrigley and again tonight for game 3. During down times, when there is nothing happening in the game, there is a constant low roar in the background. It doesn't change with what happens in the game, though it does get swallowed up by real crowd noise when it gets loud enough.

I'm not suggesting the noise is piped in by the home team or stadium, since I've heard it both the games in Wrigley and in Dodger Stadium.

I'm pretty familiar with how live TV production works, so I'm wondering if this is something TBS is doing on purpose or if it's just a bad setting on a crowd mic. Has anyone else noticed this?

TBS' studio I find better, like what Baseball Tonight should be. But honestly I do not like Dick Stockton doing baseball (He should retire, really), can't stand Chip Caray, believe Ron Darling should have a better PBP guy with him and do the marquis games, Buck Martinez has the worst announcing voice, and, Tony Gwynn has no place to be an in-game analyst. The Andersen, Smoltz, and Simpson booth has been the best. Orsillo has been good, especially with no Jerry Remy, but I think Harold Reynolds is more fit for studio analyst.

SNY didn't allow Gary Cohen in his contract to do playoff games like he used to as a radio announcer and do games on ESPN Radio. When one of the best modern PBP guys is unavailable, that is a major problem. That also means Michael Kay has to do games on radio. Ick! He already had some major flubs like the Cameron drop.

Vin Scully should NOT do Dodgers games and even if he were to do so, that would still mean somebody else calling games in Chicago as he never goes back the Rocky Mountains anymore. Also by that standard Harry Kalas should call Phillies games, Bob Uecker Brewers games, and oh wait they can't do that! OK maybe they should let Scully call an inning at Dodgers Stadium like ESPN let Ernie Harwell call the Tigers but that would be catering to one segment of the general audience.

So if Manny Ramirez gets credit for "changing the culture" in the Dodgers clubhouse and leading them to this point, does he also get credit for the eight game losing streak the team had in late August?

David Aldridge made an incredibly dumb comment I'd thought I'd share. When Geoff Jenkins entered the game, Aldridge mentioned how Geoff Jenkins left the Brewes and missed their year of success. Aldridge then talked about "the other Brewers that came up with the team, that the Brewers couldn't hold onto". He said Carlos Lee, Jeromy Burnitz, and Richie Sexson were all guys that came up through the "great system" of the Brewers.

Sorry David...none of those guys came through the minor league systems of the Brewers. Not One!

I kind of disagree with some of you. Smoltz and Darling are excellent. Eckersley is better than anyone on FOX or ESPN. Ernie Johnson is the best host. They just need a great lead pbp. Chip is not Scully or Costas or even Buck.

If you've got an MLB.com membership, you can listen to Vin Scully call the Dodger games on the radio. He is flying across the country for all the playoff games, and he is much, much better than Dick Stockton.

Re: Lom Henn:That constant background noise is more of a distorted whine/feedback from the onfield mikes being set way too high. This was also a big problem last year(could be one of those things that 'sounds better in HD').

As for Dick Stockton...if it were possible for every series he ever does in every sport to end in a sweep, I'd take it, just to not have to listen to his dyslexic, Yoda-esque, feeble mind screw up the basics of the game for the umpteenth time! 'Old and decrepit is Dick Stockton, as the Dodgers again parade to the free-throw line, just before the two-minute warning,with two outs in the third quarter at the Spectrum...'The guy needs to take Ed McMahon's place advertising those 'safety showers' for the elderly...it's about all he can comprehend!

I also saw the David Aldridge spot that Gregg talked about. Additionally, Aldridge said that Jenkins left and joined the Phillies because he wanted to play for a winner. While true, it's also true that the Brewers didn't offer him a contract. So his leaving the Brewers wasn't really up to him. . .

And while you're at it, why don't you go after Steve Bartman for he's the reason this "curse" happened. The Cubs are just flat out CHOKE ARTISTS! They SUCK in the playoffs just like A-Rod. You can bring in Joe Torre, Terry Francona, Tony LaRussa, Tony Soprano and the results will be the same, perfect regular season and finding new ways to choke it in the playoffs. 6 RUNS total in the playoffs, you tell me that's WORLD SERIES calibre. The new name for the Cubs should be Baseball's lovable CHOKE ARTISTS!!!

aa - can you PLEASE find the wgn radio's coverage of the final out? i want to hear ron santo. i get so tired of him whooping it up when they win, i want to enjoy hearing him when they get eliminated yet again.

...and I'm one of the lucky dogs who lives in LA and decides to listen to Vin Scully call the game from the 1-3 inning and continue from the 7-beyond on KABC 790. I also decide to mute the TV to listen to the commentary on Radio even though its 2 seconds ahead

Billy Crystal may be a comedian, but there's nothing funny about what a dick he is. A Mets fan? A Yankees fan? Saturday, there he was at Dodger Stadium with an LA hat. Hmmm... didn't see him at the stadium when the Dodgers were five games under .500.

In Game 3 Dodgers and Cubs, Dick Stockton had the number of outs wrong 3 times in the first five innings, and fouled up three player names. If you're going to be that bad at the basics of your job, you better have some entertainment value to make up for it, and sadly, he doesn't.